Effect of location on starch content and tuber texture characteristics in potato breeding lines and cultivars

The texture of boiled potato tubers is one of the most important quality traits. The variation of tuber texture is usually examined in relationship with dry matter or starch content. The objective of the work was to examine variation and stability of texture and starch content in tubers grown in various environments. Both traits were evaluated for the set of potato breeding lines and 10 table potato cultivars. The lines were developed in the program of parental lines carried out in M?ochów Research Center, Poland. The environments were represented by three locations, which differed in cultivation system as well as climatic and soil conditions. The traits were influenced by the effects of genotype, location and their interactions. The effect of location on texture was not explained by the changes in starch content. The calculated stability parameters indicated that unstable expression of both traits was more pronounced and more frequent in breeding lines than in the cultivars. The short period of selection used in the development of the parental lines is not conducive to select potato genotypes with stable expression of quality traits. The starch content was at most moderately related with various characteristics of tuber texture.